ANKARA — The Turkish military yesterday launched a ground offensive into northern Iraq to hunt down Kurdish rebels, drawing an angry response from Iraqi leaders and a call for restraint from Washington.
With Iraqi leaders summoning Turkey’s charge d’affaires in Baghdad to protest against the operation, Turkish leaders were quick to give assurances about the nature and scope of the incursion.
“The target, purpose, size and parameters of this operation are limited,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. “Our armed forces will come back in the shortest time possible as soon as they achieve their objectives.”
It was the second such incursion confirmed by the military since October, when the government won parliamentary approval to enter Iraq to attack Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants based there.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri Maliki telephoned Erdogan after the latest incursion was launched to urge him of “the need to respect Iraq sovereign authority,” Maliki’s spokesman said in Baghdad.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari estimated that “hundreds, rather than thousands” of troops were involved in the operation, during which he said Turkish soldiers had destroyed five bridges near the border.
“We don’t expect that a large incursion is taking place, as it’s a remote and inhospitable region,” Zebari told AFP. “The area wouldn’t sustain a large number of troops.”
The United States, which is supplying Turkey with intelligence on PKK movements, said it had been notified of the incursion beforehand and urged its NATO ally to exercise restraint. “We were notified and we urged the Turkish government to limit their operations to precise targeting of the PKK, to limit the scope and duration of their operations,” said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.
In Brussels, the European Commission asked Turkey to “refrain from any disproportionate military action” and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Turkey’s action was “not the best response.” Britain urged Turkey to withdraw its forces “as early as possible” and avoid harming civilians, while Germany warned Ankara of the “risk of destabilization.”
